CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's tennis team (13-4, 5-0 OVC) will host Murray State (9-8, 2-2 OVC) and Austin Peay (7-5, 3-0 OVC) this weekend with an opportunity to clinch the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Regular Season Championship. 
 
SEMO will face Murray State on Friday before concluding the regular season against Austin Peay on Saturday. Both matches will be contested at 1 p.m., CT at the John C. Bierk Redhawks Tennis Complex (Sprigg & Bertling tennis courts). 
 
Free Jimmy John's and 2020-21 OVC Commissioner's Cup flags will be given away on Saturday for fans in attendance while supplies last. 
 
SEMO will recognize seniors Manuela Barriga, Grace Powderly, Romana Tarajova and Teona Velkoska at Saturday's dual. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
SEMO most recently swept Tennessee State, 7-0, on April 8, before wrapping up the road trip to Nashville, Tennessee, with a 6-1 victory over Belmont on April 9. 
 
The Redhawks are 5-0 in league matches and currently on a seven-match win streak. 
 
Sophomore Daniela Hlacikova was named the OVC Women's Tennis Player of the Week Tuesday after going 4-0 (2-0 in both singles and doubles) over the Redhawks' tour of the Music City. Hlacikova currently stands at 4-1 for singles in OVC play in 2022. 
 
She is currently on a three-match singles win streak after No. 2 wins over Naomi Von Bose of Tennessee State and Belmont's Somer Henry this past week.
 
In doubles, Hlacikova also teamed up with Teona Velkoska for a pair of wins at the No. 2 position this past week in Nashville, Tennessee. 
  
Hlacikova and Velkoska improved to 11-2 in duals in 2022 after their seventh-straight victory and lead the Redhawks in OVC play with a 5-0 mark. The duo previously went 4-2 in OVC matches in 2021. 
 
SEMO's top doubles team of Romana Tarajova and Ksenia Shikanova also picked up their sixth-straight win at Belmont on April 9 to move to 7-1 this season (2-0 in OVC). 
 
SEMO has won the doubles point in each of the last seven matches.
 
On the singles side, the Redhawks have four players with double digit wins in Hlacikova (10-6), Vivian Lai (12-3), Ksenia Shikanova (12-5), and Velkoska (10-4). Myroslava Zelenchuk is one win away from 10 wins (9-6) in her first collegiate season.
 
Lai is currently riding a seven-match win streak after victories over Mckhia McCrary of TSU and Meredith Roberts of Belmont this past week in Nashville. 
 
Shikanova has won her last three singles matches at the third position. The junior from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, has matched her singles win total of 12 from the 2021 campaign and can surpass it this weekend in Cape. 
 
Velkoska picked up her ninth and 10th wins of the season at Tennessee State and Belmont, extending her streak to four-straight singles matches. She is one win away from matching her career singles wins total of 11 set in 2019. 
 
Zelenchuk, a freshman from Lviv, Ukraine, improved to 9-6 after a pair of wins at the fourth slot over TSU and Belmont. 
 
Tarajova, the 2022 OVC Preseason Top Player, topped TSU's Franka Sindicic for her fourth-straight win on April 8 before falling at Belmont on April 9. 
 
Tarajova's loss to Gina Feistel at Belmont was her first in league play this season (4-1 in OVC).
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Murray State
The Racers come into the match versus SEMO with a 9-8 overall mark and a .500 record (2-2) in the conference.
 
Murray State dropped a 7-0 decision to SIUE on April 9 before beating Eastern Illinois, 6-1, on April 10. 
 
Sarah Bureau and Stasya Sharapova, Murray State's 2022 OVC Preseason Players, lead the Racers in singles. Bureau is 11-6 in 2022 with a 2-2 record in league play. Sharapova is 10-6 this season. In league matches, Gabrielle Geolier and Annika Pschorr are both 3-1.
 
Bureau and Pschorr pace the Racers in doubles with a 2-1 OVC mark at the middle position. 
 
Austin Peay
The Governors enter Saturday's match with SEMO, boasting a 7-5 record after a 3-0 start to OVC play. 
 
APSU, the 2021 OVC Tournament Champions, was selected to finish second in 2022 in the OVC preseason poll. 
 
Austin Peay most recently beat Eastern Illinois (6-1) and SIUE (5-2) this past weekend April 9-10 in Clarksville, Tennessee. APSU opened its OVC slate with a 5-2 win over Belmont on April 2.
 
The Governors are currently on a three-match OVC win streak, and a seven-match win streak dating back to March 4.
 
The Governors are led by Denise Torrealba and Martina Paladini-Jennings who are both currently 8-4 in singles play with a 2-1 record in league matches. Jana Leder and Danielle Morris, APSU's 2022 OVC Preseason Players, are both 3-0 in conference play.
 
Morris has won her last eight matches while Leder is on a six-match win streak. 
 
Yu-Hua Cheng (2-0) is also undefeated in OVC singles this season, having won her last five contests.
 
The doubles team of Torrealba and Honoka Nakanishi are currently 8-3 on the season with a perfect 3-0 OVC record. The pairing was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week, the league announced Tuesday, and are riding a seven-match win streak.
 
Leder and Morris are also 3-0 in conference matches (5-0 overall) at No. 2 doubles.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
SEMO will next await its seeding for the 2022 OVC Championship Tournament April 29 through May 1 at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Redhawks have a bye during the final week of league matches (April 22-23).